Citizens in Charge Foundation

From Ballotpedia

Citizens in Charge Foundation works with activists, media, educators, opinion leaders and voters to protect the initiative & referendum process where it exists in 24 states and to expand the process to the 26 states where voters currently lack the initiative. Citizens in Charge Foundation works across party lines to educate the public on the benefits of citizen initiative, referendum and recall and also litigates to protect and expand those rights.

Citizens in Charge Foundation empowers grassroots leaders across the country through their Citizen State Coordinator Program. These volunteer coordinators make a difference by engaging in activities at the local and state level to protect and defend the ballot initiative process. Our team of Citizen State Coordinators mobilizes “boots-on-the-ground” activists, meets and works with elected officials and opinion leaders, and hosts educational events.

To rapidly build coalitions, Citizens in Charge Foundation provides small start-up grants to organizations in the 24 states that have statewide initiative and referendum rights. These grants allow state organizations to set up a website, host a town hall event and/or other outreach and capacity-building activities.

The process of initiative and referendum is critical if we are to shift power back into the hands of ordinary citizens. Citizens in Charge Foundation and Citizens in Charge are uniquely positioned as the only national organizations committed to defending the ballot initiative process in states where it exists and expanding it to those states where citizens currently lack the process.

CICF is non-partisan and does not support any initiatives, referenda, or candidates for office.

Key personnel

Paul Jacob is the founder and president of Citizens in Charge Foundation.

Save the Initiative Tour

The Save The Initiative Tour is a public relations effort led by Paul Jacob that started in 2008 to familiarize voters in the 24 states with I&R about threats to the citizen initiative process.^[1],^[2],^[3]

States where state legislators are pushing legislation to make it considerably more difficult for initiatives to qualify for the ballot include Missouri, Nebraska,and Washington.

In Nebraska, Nebraska Legislative Bill 39 passed through the Nebraska State Legislature on February 9, and was vetoed by Gov. Dave Heineman on February 13.

In Washington, Washington House Bill 2601 passed through a committee of the Washington State Assembly on February 5 by a 5-3 party-line vote, with all the committee's Democrats voting for the restrictive bill, and all the commmittee's Republicans voting against it.